Case Studies of U.S. Innovations in Mathematics and Science and Technology Education in an International Context

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In this three-year project, experienced field researchers, guided by an advisory committee of leaders of the American mathematics and science education reform movement, will conduct intensive case studies of eight major reform innovations of the 1980s. The innovations include: the NCTM standards project, Project 2061, the Urban Mathematics Collaborative, California's systemic reform of science education, Chemistry in the Community, Voyage of the Mimi, Kids Network, and Contemporary PreCalculus Through Applications. Simultaneously, coordinated through the Center for Education Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), parallel sets of case studies of elementary and secondary reform efforts in mathematics, science, and technology education will be undertaken in about 14 countries in Europe and Asia. (The other nations will cover the research project costs in their own countries.) Overall integration of the studies will be handled by an international steering committee. Such integration will involve the use of a common analytical scheme and interpretive framework, and will result in a major conference and summary volume in which all results will be reported in a form suitable for dissemination to the educational research and policy communities. In addition, there will be a published book-length report for each nation, coordinated through CERI, that will give full detail on the studies of each country. These cross-national studies should aid policy makers in the U.S. and other nations in learning from the experience of other systems in setting and refining national goals. This grant is co-funded by NSF and the Department of Education (Office of Educational Research and Improvement), with funds from NSF covering primarily the U.S. case studies and funds from OERI devoted primarily to the integration and interpretation of the cross-national perspective.